Being stubborn

Of late, I have been getting increasingly annoyed, irritated, and pissed at my father and his habits. I’ve already accepted, though reluctantly, that I will not be able to change his smoking and drinking habits. The fact that his brother who had stopped smoking for 10 years died of lung/throat cancer has not sunk in his head. He was upset, he “tried” to cut down but in the end, he’s back at it again. As that is a lost cause, I am adamant about changing his eating habit! He has one of the unhealthiest eating habits.

Being a musician for the most part of his life, his entire schedule has been disrupted. The late nights, the late suppers, the smoking, the drinking. Although I’ve given up on the first and latter two habits, the late suppers are something I want, no, NEED to change.

Just yesterday, he had a whole full meal at dinner. Later that night, I saw him eating biscuits. When I told him that he had a whole meal earlier, he said it was not enough! And when I woke up this morning, I found that he had eaten my entire Tupperware (it doesn’t matter if it was a small Tupperware or not) of assam!! The other morning, the first thing he did when he woke up was eat a burger!! Not go to the toilet!!! Imagine that!!

To further add to this, is the fact that he rarely drinks water, although he says he drinks a lot! At home, I don’t see him drinking water at all; he’s always buying ‘teh-o ais’ or ‘kopi-o ais’ or soya bean. When I confront him, he reasons his buying of these drinks by saying that it’s all “less sugar”. To me, it’s not a matter of “less sugar” or anything; water is essential for our body and health. Imagine drinking alcohol the night before, waking up the next day dehydrated and heading straight to the fridge for a ‘teh-o ais’!?! That’s what my dad does.

I’m not complaining just for the heck of it. I want him to be healthy and to live long. As it is, he already has high cholesterol and is under medication for that. But at the rate he’s going, he looks like he’s heading towards getting diabetes as well (my grand-father had it and a few of my uncles too).

He told me yesterday that he’s going for a medical check-up on Saturday and I told him straight that I hope they find that his cholesterol and sugar levels are up. I told him that should they find anything not right, I wouldn’t be surprised and that I’ll tell him “I told you so”!! I know it’s mean of me to say that but I figured that that’s the only way he’s going to be scared and take some action. His words of assurances for the past 5-6 years are mere empty vessels.

He doesn’t listen, or rather refuses to listen to any of us (read: mum, sis, me, his mother) but he rather listen to strangers and friends. I do hope the doctor scolds him this Saturday and gives him the fright of his life. Sighs…